SWTOR Companion QnA with Lead System Designer, Damion Schubert

BioWare's Lead System Designer, Damion Schubert, has been kind enough to answer a volley of questions that I threw at him about the future of our beloved SWTOR companions. The companions are a unique and popular part of the SWTOR game experience and as the game is tweaked and updated, many players are wondering how companions will change, myself included. Here's what he had to say:

Q: With the introduction of HK-51 will players have a choice of what crafting bonuses he has, similar to the way we get to choose our ship droids crafting bonuses?

A: He's been given a minor efficiency bonus to all mission skills, and a minor critical bonus to all crew skills.









Q: Will HK-51 have customization options? If so, how many?

A: We have several paint jobs planned for HK-51 in the works. When and how players will acquire them is unclear as of yet.






Q: Are there any plans to advance on current Companion story lines? Some of us have developed intimate relations with our Companions, and even married them and now they won't talk to us!



A: I will put this as 'on our radar screen but not imminent'.  Building companion content is very, very expensive for us (most people only play one of their companions heavily, so there is a one-in-forty chance that any companion content will be consumed). Also, the benefits of companions once you hit level 50 isn't great since you don't use them for operations or warzones.  I'd really like to address the utility problem before we jump on creating more content for them. That being said, we know you guys love your companions and we know it’s something that's unique to SWTOR, so it’s definitely something that will get attention.

Q: Are there any plans for new Companion customizations whether it be connected to world events (like the Rakghoul plague) or Collector's Edition bonuses?

A: We do have plans for new companion customization options in the future. I can’t giveaway too many details now, but I will say that there was a round of applause for a new paint job for C2-N2 that we unveiled at a company meeting.

Q: Certain Companions had customizable gear that changed with a recent patch. Players leveling Lord Scourge now, for instance, can customize his look, including being able to choose the cool Sith armor. Conversely, players who have already leveled to 50 and completed the bonus series do not have access to the Sith armor. Is there a way to get hold of the Sith armor for Lord Scourge for those players and/or will one be made available in a later patch?

A: I will look to see what we can do.

Q: Currently in game the preview screen for Companions and for armor looks is very low resolution and low quality. Are there any plans to improve the preview screen? Also, are there any plans to include weapons in the preview screen? Some of us are fussy about the look of our guns and lightsabers!

A: We are currently looking at improving our gear preview screen as part of developing for microtransactions, since we definitely want people to be able to see what they are buying before they do so.  So yes, these things should be on their way to you.


The possibility of high resolution preview screens will be a major benefit to anybody who likes the look of their characters.Thank you Damion for your time.

If you have any comments about the information provided, or an opinion on which companion's story line you'd most like to see updated, hit the comments button.

The Many Looks of Qyzen Fess

Complete Guide to Qyzen Fess Customizations

First off, I know we have always posted our "Many Looks of " images using bikini outfits on our Companions, but when we tryed to put Qyzen Fess into a bikini he ripped 3 of our droids into 6 pieces! So we have changed our bikini policy, to keep peace in the Galaxy!

Qyzen Fess is the first Companion that players get as a Jedi Consular. Our Trandoshan friend is a heavy armor wearing melee tank who brings his skill and hunting knowledge to your story line. Like most reptiles  Qyzen will shed his skin from time to time and it really annoys C2-N2 who has the fun job of cleaning it up ... so it's not uncommon for Qyzen to change his looks!

Let's have a look at the first 5 looks:

Qyzen has 5 customizations, plus the default look The image above has the default look far left and then the 4 customizations you can purchase from vendors (one customization is a rare loot drop, which we'll talk about below).

Customization 1 and 4 can be purchased from the Security Key vendor on the Republic fleet 

Customization 2 can be purchased from The Balmora vendor, Guunta. He is hard to miss, as he can be found at the entrance to the main base in bug town.

The Collector's Edition Vendor has customization 3 for sale if you own a Collector's Edition copy of SWTOR.

The last special customization is a rare loot drop from Warlord Kephess, the final boss of Explosive Conflict operation.

Even if you get the loot drop, like I did, you still need to roll for the item with all the other Consulars in your raid!

A big thanks to Nomzy for letting me take the screenshots of this cool customization which he won when it dropped in our raid ... and DAMN YOU FOR BEATING ME BY 1! :)


To find out more about Qyzen Fess, including gift preferences, check out the the Jedi Consular Companion page.



Don't forget to check out similar posts:

Our full list of companions and gifts
The Many Looks of Elara Dorne
The Many Looks of Kira Carsen
The Many Looks of Vette
The Many Looks of Mako
The Many Looks of Risha
The Many Looks of Nadia Grell

For information on customization options for other companions check out the other 'Many Looks of ... ' posts on SWTORFace.

Companion Customization Changes in Patch 1.4

A new feature coming in 1.4 is the ability to finally turn your companion's helmet off and the ability to unify your companion's gear color. You're no longer required to have female companions hiding behind masks, or any companions wearing bad taste color combinations.

Pressing C ingame will bring up your character screen. Then simply select your companion tab and your options will show, as you can see in these screenshots.

You can unify the color of all, or selected items, the same way that you can with your main characters.

Republic Dread Guard Preview from Patch 1.4

In my brief look around the Republic Fleet in the Test Server this evening I was able to get some screenshots of the new Dread Guard gear. It's always exciting to get new gear ingame. Unfortunately, all we've got is new colors ... There is no use going into details about the changes because we've already seen it all with the Black Hole gear. I do like the red and black Jedi Knight gear though. Screenshots for your enjoyment ...

Patch 1.4 Changes: MK-2 PvP gear

Patch 1.4 will be making it easy for new players to jump right into PvP with the new Recruit MK-2. 

Just before the servers went down I managed to get a couple of screenshots of the MK-2 gear and in these screenshots I have compared it to both Battlemaster gear and the old Champion gear (which is no longer ingame). 

As you will see, new recruit gear falls just short of the Battlemaster stats. Each piece is around 24-27 expertise lower than the current Battlemaster gear. All the other stats are a level or so under the Battlemaster gear as well, but the expertise is what you need for PvP. 

This gear also looks exactly the same as current Battlemaster gear, so you won't be targeted by players who are looking for easy kills on fresh new players. 

The price on the gear hasn't changed and it will all be available in Patch 1.4, which has just hit the test servers today. A full set of Recruit MK-2, including the unchanged Champion relics, will grant 944 Expertise. This is a 5% increase over the original Recruit gear (896 Expertise). 

How Resolve will change after Patch 1.4

The above graph (which I found on Reddit, with no credits as to who made it) shows the changes to Resolve that will occur with Patch 1.4. These changes hope to improve the PvP experience for players. The different shapes represent different types of stuns. The graph line itself shows the path to a full resolve bar. When you have a full resolve bar you're immune to stuns. This is why that tank is able to resist all your stuns as he is running towards the Hutt ball goal line. Right now, whether the stuns are truly effective or not makes no difference to what it does to your Resolve level. If three people all attempt to stun you at the same time, or apply stuns on top of stuns to no real use, it will fill a player's Resolve bar instantly. Post Patch 1.4, the Resolve bar will take into consideration the amount of time you actually spend stunned, rather than the amount of stuns that are applied on you.

Looking at the post 1.4 graph you see 4 closely applied stuns will half fill your bar, but four spaced out stuns, that actually do keep you stunned for a period of time, will completely fill your bar. When your bar is full, you cannot be crowd-controlled. It all equals good times in PvP.

Developer Dispatch Video Terror From Beyond

Game Update 1.4 is coming soon and with it one of the most dynamic and difficult Operations in Star Wars™: The Old Republic™.

In "Terror from Beyond", you will be called upon to face a mysterious new threat that has emerged from one of the most obscure places in the galaxy: the Gree planet of Asation. The Gree have been safeguarding ancient technologies on the planet for centuries, but seemingly on its own one of the technologies, called a "Hypergate" has been activated. Terrible creatures have begun emerging from this Hypergate, and the Gree fear the worst is yet to come. You must travel to Asation, close the Hypergate, and defeat whatever evil it has unleashed. Get ready to face the most challenging enemy yet. A true Terror From Beyond!

Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Game Update 1.4 PTS Patch Notes

Last Updated: 9/10/2012

The patch notes published for the Public Test Server are not final and are subject to change. The Public Test Server Patch Notes will be provided in English. The final release notes will be provided in English, French, and German when the content is moved to live servers.

Highlights

• Terror from Beyond, a new Operation, is now available! Travel to the remote planet of Asation, where the Dread Masters have commandeered an ancient Gree Hypergate in order to unleash untold horrors upon the galaxy. Terror from Beyond features 5 powerful new boss encounters that can be challenged in 8- and 16- player Story or Hard Mode, offering some of the most challenging group content yet!
• A new set of PvE gear is available! Dread Guard gear is now the most powerful PvE equipment in the galaxy. It can be acquired from deep within Terror from Beyond (Hard Mode).
• Significant changes have been made to crowd control to address the amount of control a player can be subject to at once. See the Classes and Combat section for details.

Classes and Combat

General

• The crowd control gameplay has been adjusted to address the amount of control a player can be subject to at once. The majority of this change comes from reduced ranges on a number of crowd control abilities, as well as some adjustments to area of effect knockback abilities. To complement these changes, some small Resolve system tweaks (found in the PvP section) have been put in place to polish the system as a whole.
• The ground targeting reticule is no longer cleared when a channeled ability completes channeling.
• Players no longer receive the error message "You cannot cast while moving" when moving, stopping, and then immediately using a ground-targeted ability.
• When a player is defeated immediately after applying a damage over time effect to another character, the player is no longer occasionally put back into combat after being revived. 

Jedi Knight

General

• Force Sweep's timing has been adjusted; the ability now executes more quickly.
• Force Stasis has a new animation.

Sentinel

• Guarded by the Force now lasts 4 seconds (down from 5 seconds).
• Zen (Shii-Cho Form) has been redesigned. Now, while Shii-Cho Form is active, using Zen consumes 1 charge every .5 seconds, generating 2 Focus for each charge consumed.
• Valorous Call can no longer be activated when you already have 30 stacks of Centering
  
  Focus (Sentinel)

• Zephyrean Slash has been redesigned. It now gives Strike, Zealous Strike, Slash, Blade Storm, and Dispatch a 50% chance per point to reduce the active cooldown of Force Sweep and Zealous Leap by .5 seconds per point.
• Swift Slash now additionally affects Dispatch.
• Saber Strength now additionally affects Dispatch.
• Singularity: Stacks of Singularity now additionally reduce the Focus cost of Force Sweep by 12.5% per point per stack.
• Shii-Cho Mastery's armor penetration has been increased to 15% per point.

Guardian

Focus (Guardian)

• Zephyrean Slash has been redesigned. It now gives Strike, Zealous Strike, Slash, Blade Storm, and Dispatch a 50% chance per point to reduce the active cooldown of Force Sweep and Zealous Leap by .5 seconds per point.
• Swift Slash now additionally affects Dispatch.
• Saber Strength now additionally affects Dispatch.
• Singularity: Stacks of Singularity now additionally reduce the Focus cost of Force Sweep by 12.5% per point per stack.
• Inner Focus now additionally causes Combat Focus to generate 2 Focus per point.
• Shii-Cho Mastery: Armor penetration has been increased to 15% per point.

Sith Warrior

General

• Smash's timing has been adjusted; the ability now executes more quickly.
• Ravage's audio now plays reliably when the ability is used.

Marauder

• Undying Rage now lasts 4 seconds (down from 5 seconds).
• Berserk (Shii-Cho Form) has been redesigned. Now, while Shii-Cho Form is active, using Berserk consumes 1 charge every .5 seconds, generating 2 Rage for each charge consumed.
• Frenzy can no longer be activated when you already have 30 stacks of Fury.
  
  Rage (Marauder)

• Overpower has been redesigned. It now gives Assault, Battering Assault, Vicious Slash, Force Scream, and Vicious Throw a 50% chance per point to reduce the active cooldown of Smash and Obliterate by .5 seconds per point.
• Brutality now additionally affects Vicious Throw.
• Saber Strength now additionally affects Vicious Throw.
• Shockwave: Stacks of Shockwave now additionally reduce the Rage cost of Smash by 12.5% per point per stack.
• Shii-Cho Mastery's armor penetration has been increased to 15% per point.

Juggernaut

Rage (Juggernaut)

• Overpower has been redesigned. It now gives Assault, Sundering Assault, Vicious Slash, Force Scream, and Vicious Throw a 50% chance per point to reduce the active cooldown of Smash and Obliterate by .5 seconds per point.
• Brutality now additionally affects Vicious Throw.
• Saber Strength now additionally affects Vicious Throw.
• Shockwave: Stacks of Shockwave now additionally reduce the Rage cost of Smash by 12.5% per point per stack.
• Empowering Rage now additionally causes Enrage to generate 2 Rage per point.
• Shii-Cho Mastery: Armor penetration has been increased to 15% per point.

Jedi Consular

General

• Force Stun now costs no Force and has a 10-meter range.
• Force Speed now has a 20-second cooldown (down from 30).
• Force Wave now costs no Force and affects targets in a 15-meter cone in front of you. This ability now executes more quickly.

Sage

• Force Mend: This new ability allows you to heal yourself for a moderate amount. It costs no Force, is instant, and has a 30-second cooldown.
  
  Seer

• Valiance now additionally increases the healing of Force Mend by 15% per point.
• Egress has been redesigned. It now causes Force Speed to remove roots and snares and grants immunity to roots and snares for its duration.

Telekinetics

• Mental Alacrity now additionally provides immunity to interrupts for its duration. It has improved visual effects to demonstrate this effect.
• Telekinetic Effusion no longer reduces the cooldown of Force Speed.
• Telekinetic Wave has a new animation.
• Kinetic Collapse: The Incapacitation effect caused by this skill no longer breaks on damage.

Shadow

• Force Cloak now has a 2 minute cooldown.
  
  Kinetic Combat

• Elusiveness has been redesigned. It now requires Double-Bladed Saber Defense and increases the Force recovered by Double-Bladed Saber Defense. Successful shielding, parries, and deflects now reduce the active cooldown of Resilience by .5 second per point. This effect cannot occur more than once every second.

Infiltration

• Infiltration Tactics: When Find Weakness activates, your next Shadow Strike deals 30% more damage and costs 75% less Force. This cannot occur more than once every 15 seconds, but each rank after the first reduces this rate limit by 3 seconds.
• Celerity now additionally reduces the cooldown of Force Speed by 2.5 seconds per point.
• Masked Assault now additionally finishes the cooldown of Blackout when you exit stealth. In addition, Masked Assault causes Shadow's Respite to reduce all damage taken by 25% while active.
• Fade now additionally reduces the damage taken from area effects by 15% per point and reduces the cooldown of Force Cloak by 15 seconds per point (down from 30 seconds per point). Kinetic Field no longer provides this effect. 
• Kinetic Field has been redesigned. Critical hits now cause you to build a Kinetic Field, increasing damage reduction by 1% per point per stack. This effect stacks up to 3 times. This skill is now located in tier 5 of the skill tree.
• Situational Awareness is now located in tier 6 of the skill tree.
• Deep Impact is now a 2-point skill with the same overall effect.
• Humbling Strike is a new 1-point skill in tier 6 of the skill tree. It causes the target of your Spinning Kick to be slowed by 70% for 3 seconds when the knockdown effect ends. It requires Subduing Techniques.
• Clairvoyant Strike: Using Project no longer consumes the buff provided by this ability. This change was made to better synergize with Spinning Strike during execute phases.
• Clairvoyant Strike now correctly increases Project's damage with 1 stack.

Sith Inquisitor

General

• Electrocute now costs no Force and has a 10-meter range.
• Force Speed now has a 20-second cooldown (down from 30).
• Overload now costs no Force and affects targets in a 15-meter cone in front of you. This ability now executes more quickly.

Sorcerer

• Unnatural Preservation: This new ability allows you to heal yourself for a moderate amount. It costs no Force, is instant, and has a 30-second cooldown.
  
  Corruption

• Dark Resilience now additionally increases the healing of Unnatural Preservation by 15% per point.
• Fadeout has been redesigned. It now causes Force Speed to remove roots and snares and grants immunity to roots and snares for its duration.

Lightning

• Polarity Shift now additionally provides immunity to interrupts for its duration. It has improved visual effects to demonstrate this effect.
• Lightning Effusion no longer reduces the cooldown of Force Speed.
• Backlash: The blindness effect caused by this skill no longer breaks on damage. The visual explosion effect now plays on the correct target.

Assassin

• Force Cloak now has a 2 minute cooldown.
  
  Darkness

• Lightning Recovery has been redesigned. It now requires Lightning Reflexes and increases the Force recovered by Lightning Reflexes. Successful shielding, parries, and deflects now reduce the active cooldown of Force Shroud by .5 second per point. This effect cannot occur more than once every second.

Deception

• Duplicity: When Exploit Weakness activates, your next Maul deals 30% more damage and costs 75% less Force. This cannot occur more than once every 15 seconds, but each rank after the first reduces this rate limit by 3 seconds.
• Avoidance now additionally reduces the cooldown of Force Speed by 2.5 seconds per point.
• Darkswell now additionally finishes the cooldown of Blackout when you exit stealth. In addition, Darkswell causes Dark Embrace to reduce all damage taken by 25% while active.
• Fade now additionally reduces the damage taken from area effects by 15% per point and reduces the cooldown of Force Cloak by 15 seconds per point (down from 30 seconds per point). Entropic Field no longer provides this effect. 
• Entropic Field has been redesigned. Critical hits now cause you to build an Entropic Field, increasing damage reduction by 1% per point per stack. This effect stacks up to 3 times. This skill is now located in tier 5 of the skill tree.
• Resourcefulness is now located in tier 6 of the skill tree.
• Cracking Blasts is now a 2-point skill with the same overall effect.
• Magnetism is a new 1-point skill in tier 6 of the skill tree. It causes the target of your Spike to be slowed by 70% for 3 seconds when the knockdown effect ends. It requires Static Cling.
• Voltaic Slash: Using Shock no longer consumes the buff provided by this ability. This change was made to better synergize with Assassinate during execute phases.
• Static Charges now correctly refers to the damage dealt by your next Surging Charge's Discharge.
• Voltaic Slash now correctly increases Shock's damage with 1 stack.

Smuggler

General

• Defense Screen: This ability's tooltip now mentions that it absorbs damage up to a moderate limit and that it does not break stealth.
• Flash Grenade no longer has an Energy cost.
• An issue that could prevent players from taking cover correctly has been corrected. This issue could cause the error "Unknown Effect Result" to display.

Gunslinger

• Scrambling Field has a new icon.
• Pulse Detonator's timing has been adjusted; it now executes more quickly.
  
  Saboteur

• Hot Pursuit: This ability can now only be triggered once every 20 seconds.
• Incendiary Grenade's appearance no longer incorrectly displays 2 grenades in the air. Some timing issues with the throwing animation have been addressed.

Sharpshooter

• Trickshot is now usable within the 5 seconds immediately following Charged Burst, Aimed Shot, or Quickdraw.

Dirty Fighting (Gunslinger)

• Wounding Shots has a new animation.

Scoundrel

• Disappearing Act now has a 2 minute cooldown.
  
  Scrapper

• Fight or Flight has been redesigned. It finishes the cooldown on Sneak when you exit stealth and allows Sneak to be used out of stealth, increasing movement speed by 50% for 6 seconds. It still removes the penalty to healing done and received caused by Disappearing Act.
• Flee the Scene now additionally reduces the cooldown of Sneak by 7.5 seconds per point. It also now reduces the cooldown of Disappearing Act by 15 seconds per point (down from 30 seconds per point).

Imperial Agent

General

• Flash Bang no longer has an Energy cost.

Sniper

• Ballistic Shield has a new icon.
• Cover Pulse's timing has been adjusted; it now executes more quickly.
  
  Marksmanship

• Followthrough is now usable within the 5 seconds immediately following Snipe, Ambush, or Takedown.

Engineering

• Calculated Pursuit: This ability can now only be triggered once every 20 seconds.

Operative

• Cloaking Screen now has a 2 minute cooldown.
  
  Concealment

• Energy Screen has been redesigned. It is now called "Ghost." It finishes the cooldown on Sneak when you exit stealth and allows Sneak to be used out of stealth, increasing movement speed by 50% for 6 seconds. It still removes the penalty to healing done and received caused by Cloaking Screen.
• Advanced Cloaking now additionally reduces the cooldown of Sneak by 7.5 seconds per point. It also now reduces the cooldown of Cloaking Screen by 15 seconds per point (down from 30 seconds per point).

Trooper

General

• Hold the Line now has more noticeable visual effects.
• Cryo Grenade now has a 10-meter range.

Vanguard

Tactics

• Pulse Generator: Each stack now causes 20% additional damage. This can stack up to 3 times.
• Shock Absorbers now additionally reduces damage taken from area effects by 15% per point. Damage reduction while stunned has been increased to 15% per point.

Assault Specialist (Vanguard)

• Sweltering Heat's snare has been reduced to 30%.
• Incendiary Round's range has been reduced to 10 meters.
• Assault Plastique's range has been reduced to 10 meters.

Commando

• Due to changes in the Commando skill trees, all Commandos have had their skill points refunded.
• Disabling Shot is a new ability that interrupts the target's current action and prevents that ability from being used for the next 4 seconds.
  
  Gunnery

• Concussive Force: Stockstrike now immobilizes the target for 4 seconds instead of knocking it back.
• Cover Fire: This ability's snare has been increased to 70%.
• Charged Barrel: Each stack of Charged Barrel now additionally reduces the activation time of your next Advanced Medical Probe by 20% per stack.

Combat Medic

• Kolto Residue now additionally snares enemies struck by your Kolto Bomb by 50% for 3 seconds.
• Potent Medicine is now a 3-point skill with the same overall effect.
• Frontline Medic is a new 2-point skill. While protected by your own Trauma Probe, firing Hammer Shot at an enemy now triggers your Trauma Probe (this can only happen once every 3 seconds). This does not trigger if your health is full.

Assault Specialist (Commando)

• Sweltering Heat's snare has been reduced to 30%.

Bounty Hunter

General

• Electro Dart now has a 10-meter range.
• Unload has a new animation when used with a single blaster pistol.

Powertech

Advanced Prototype

• Prototype Flame Thrower: Each stack now causes 20% additional damage. This can stack up to 3 times.
• Stabilized Armor now additionally reduces damage taken from area effects by 15% per point. Damage reduction while stunned has been increased to 15% per point.

Pyrotech (Powertech)

• Sweltering Heat's snare has been reduced to 30%.
• Incendiary Missile's range has been reduced to 10 meters.
• Thermal Detonator's range has been reduced to 10 meters.

Mercenary

• Due to changes in the Mercenary skill trees, all Mercenaries have had their skill points refunded.
• Disabling Shot is a new ability that interrupts the target's current action and prevents that ability from being used for the next 4 seconds.
  
  Arsenal

• Afterburners: Rocket Punch now immobilizes the target for 4 seconds instead of knocking it back.
• Pinning Fire: This ability's snare has been increased to 70%.
• Tracer Lock: Each stack of Tracer Lock now additionally reduces the activation time of your next Healing Scan by 20% per stack.

Bodyguard

• Kolto Residue now additionally snares enemies struck by your Kolto Missile by 50% for 3 seconds.
• Warden is now a 3-point skill with the same overall effect.
• Peacekeeper is a new 2-point skill. While protected by your own Kolto Shell, firing Rapid Shots at an enemy now triggers your Kolto Shell (this can only happen once every 3 seconds). This does not trigger if your health is full.

Pyrotech (Mercenary)

• Sweltering Heat's snare has been reduced to 30%.

Companion Characters

General

• Players can now use "match color to chest" for their companions, and can choose to show or hide companion head gear.
• Companions no longer have their weapons drawn on the player's starship.

Companions

Gault

• Memento Marketing: This conversation is now only available on the player's ship.

Lord Scourge

• Legends: Affection gained during this conversation is now properly granted to Lord Scourge (instead of Rusk).

Tallos Drellik

• The conversation for "Failure" now grants affection gains and losses correctly.

Vector

• Agents on the conversation "The Lost Colony" now properly receive affection rewards for the dialogue.

Crew Skills

General

• Several gathering nodes that were previously inaccessible (for instance, some that were underneath terrain) can now be harvested.

Flashpoints and Operations

Flashpoints

General

• While participating in a Flashpoint conversation, using Esc to cancel a conversation and then pressing the "x" button to close the window no longer causes the player to exit the Flashpoint instance.

Operations

General

• [WEEKLY] Deadly Operations now awards 30 Daily Commendations.
• [WEEKLY] Galactic Operations now awards 10 Daily Commendations and 8 Black Hole Commendations.
• [WEEKLY] Galactic Crisis Points now awards 10 Daily Commendations and 8 Black Hole Commendations.
• Explosive Conflict now awards 10 Black Hole Commendations and crafting materials.

Eternity Vault

• Annihilator Droid XRR-3 can now be attacked more reliably with abilities that require standing behind the target.
• Characters no longer occasionally become invisible when moving through the lava tunnels.
• Corrected the location of a misplaced Ancient Power Source during the Soa encounter.

Explosive Conflict

• Ugnaut Engineers' "Firebomb" now correctly displays visual effects on the ground for the full duration of the effect.
• The console that deactivates Colonel Vorgath's minefield is now positioned in a more accessible location.
• Damaging Toth and Zorn too quickly no longer causes their health threshold mechanics to overlap (in all difficulty modes).
• Chests in Explosive Conflict no longer contain Black Hold Commendations. They now have increased amounts of credits and crafting materials.
• Bosses in Hard Mode now drop 5 Black Hole Commendations each.
• A number of changes have been made to Explosive Conflict's Story Mode in order to make it more accessible for pick-up groups:
  
  

Toth and Zorn

• Frenzy now increases damage less per stack.
• Toth now waits longer before using area of effect abilities after jumping.
• Fearful now increases damage taken by a lower amount.
• The amount of time before Toth and Zorn enrage when one dies has been increased.
• The enrage timer for the encounter has been increased to 6 minutes 30 seconds.
• Damaging Toth and Zorn too quickly no longer causes their health threshold mechanics to overlap.

Firebrand and Stormcaller

• The activation time of Incinerate Armor, Double Destruction, and Defensive Systems has been increased.
• Incinerate Armor no longer increases damage taken in addition to its armor debuff.
• Shield generators can no longer be damaged by players.

Colonel Vorgath

• Probe Droids no longer use Cleave.
• The enrage timer for the encounter has been increased to 4 minutes 30 seconds.

Warlord Kephess

• The time before Baradium Bombers explode has been increased.
• The damage for the Pulsar Power Droids' rail shot has been decreased.
• Kephess' damage in the final phase has been decreased.
• The damage from the Trandoshan Warrior's reflective shields has been decreased.
• The enrage timer for the encounter has been increased.

Karagga's Palace

• Bonethrasher can now be attacked more reliably with abilities that require standing behind the target. 
• Proximity Pulse Mines no longer spawn during the G4-B3 Heavy Fabricator encounter in Story Mode.

Group Finder

• Players participating in a Group Finder group now have the ability to teleport to the Group Finder instance at any point.
• Players who leave an active Group Finder instance can now be returned to the location they were in when they used the "travel now" dialog option to travel to the instance.
• Once players reach a checkpoint or defeat an Operation boss, they may choose to exit at the normal area entrance when leaving.

Items

General

• A majority of offhand items can now be modified. Shields, Generators, and Foci accept Armoring modifications, and Vibroknives and Shotguns accept Barrels. Additionally, they can contain Color Crystal, Mod, and Enhancement slots (though the Color Crystal slot does not currently impact the visuals of the item). Note that there are some exceptions – not all offhands can be modified.
• Bind on pickup and Bind on Legacy items can now be traded for up to 2 hours between players that were eligible to loot the item. 
• Items purchased from a vendor can now be sold to any vendor for full purchase price (in commendations) for up to 2 hours. Stackable items and mission items cannot be traded or sold back for full value. The 2 hour time is terminated if a mod is added or removed or an augment slot is added. Bind on Equip items cannot be refunded (in commendations) if they are traded, mailed, put in a guild bank, or listed on the GTN.
• Lockboxes' 2 hour timer terminates when the lockbox is opened.
• The formula that determines extraction costs for modifications has been adjusted. Costs to remove Premium and Artifact quality modifications have been reduced substantially. The cost to remove Prototype modifications has been decreased slightly.
• The Heavy Sonic Disruptor can now be drawn correctly by characters.

Missions and NPCs

General

• Several cinematics throughout the game have been improved. In many cases, animations have been cleaned up and missing or extraneous characters have been addressed.
• Some instances where the player would enter or leave a mission phase unexpectedly have been corrected. This could, in some cases, cause a player to become stuck.
• An issue that could cause a glow effect to be applied to a player’s starship holoterminal several times has been corrected.

World Missions

Alderaan

• Hive Mined: Imperial Mine Inspectors now run away and despawn correctly when freed.
• Paladins: Players can no longer accidentally attack Duke Charle Organa while fighting the Wolf Baron.
• Revenge Served Cold: Line of sight issues with the Thul Cryo Dragoon have been corrected.
• Thwarting House Thul: Looting Deral Thul's Cybernetic Implant now works properly when the player is in a group.

Balmorra

• Big Guns: Mission indicators now direct players to the correct locations.
• Coms Away: The post-mission ambient dialogue from Fixer 66 now properly relates to the player's choices.
• Data Corruption: This mission no longer progresses if the player cancels the action while uploading the virus.
• Flush out the Snipers: Enemies for this mission's objective now have an appropriate name ("Resistance Sharpshooter" instead of "Gold Neerbray Commando").
• Salting the Fields: Each player in a group must now use the Soil Devastators separately.
• Storming the Front: The medical supplies item is now displayed in the mission tracker during the step "Heal the Wounded Republic Defenders."
• Wild Fire: The mission log text now correctly instructs players to return to the Troida Military Workshop Hangar.

Corellia

• The item "Anti-rad Injector" associated with Glow and Counter Eco-Terrorism now properly removes stacks of radiation poisoning from a character over time.
• Asset Liquidation: Usable objective items and enemy NPCs related to this mission now respawn more quickly.
• Coronet Shipping Invasion: More Imperial forces in the Coronet Shipping Docks now count towards completion of this bonus mission.
• Counter Eco-Terrorism: Objective items related to this mission now respawn more quickly.
• Criminal Crackdown: Usable objective items and enemy NPCs related to this mission now respawn more quickly.
• Forced Labor: A Drall Engineer no longer runs through the force field when rescued. Usable objects related to this mission now respawn more quickly.

Hoth

• Imperial Interference: This bonus mission is now the appropriate level (previously, it was lower level than its main mission).
• Razing the Ice Fortress: The step "Speak to Seeker Kabath" now directs the player to the correct location.

Ilum

• Darkness on Ilum: multiple encounters related to this mission can no longer be activated at the same time.

Korriban

• Allegiance: Players can now consistently complete this mission while in a group.

Nar Shaddaa

• Back Alley: This mission now correctly provides a lockbox in its reward choice.
• Recruitment: The Jedi Master now spawns reliably.
• Zero Protocol: The step "Return to Commandor Stron" now has an appropriate map link.

Ord Mantell

• Take Back Drelliad Village: Separatist Defenders and Separatist Heavy Gunners now grant credit towards the objective "Dispatch the Separatist Forces."

Quesh

• The Republic Commando and Medical Officer on Quesh now properly show mission indicators if a player is the appropriate level for Quesh.

Taris

• Bashun's Bodyguards: This bonus mission now activates correctly for Imperial Agents. It is a bonus mission for the mission Cathar Assassination.

Tatooine

• Shields Down: Players now receive kill credit for Shielded Mark V Junk Droids if their companion deals the killing blow.

Voss

• A Selfless Act: Log entries for this mission now reflect the proper mission steps.
• Dark Rites: Dark Mastery: This mission now correctly awards affection points for Companion Characters.
• March of Time: Monument text now remains on screen for a longer period of time.
• Signal Fires: Gormak Tower Guards no longer pre-emptively despawn during this mission.

Class Missions

Jedi Knight

• Vault of the Gormak King: Players can no longer re-enter the Gormak Vault phase once this mission has been completed.
• Weapon of the Jedi: Players who did not properly receive the “Jedi Weapons” Codex entry will find it unlocked.

Sith Warrior

• Ambush: A Republic Strike Droid in Darth Vengean's Flagship no longer becomes invisible.
• An Army of One: Players can no longer destroy Commander Naughlen’s barricade before they reach the mission step to do so.
• Bringing up the Rear: The map note for the task “Defeat the Imperial Rear Guards” now displays correctly.
• Choke Point: The map note related to the mission step “Rendezvous with Lieutenant Dargus” now displays correctly.
• Distress Call: Halidrell Setsyn now has a mission indicator on the appropriate mission step.
• General Durant: The conversation with General Durant is no longer forced upon completion of the mission step "Confront General Durant." Lieutenant Pierce no longer enters combat during this mission.
• Power Play: The fight with Darth Vengean now only resets if Lord Draahg is killed.

Jedi Consular

• Deep Cradle, Dark Heart: The conversation with Sophia Farash now triggers correctly.
• Nightmares: The step "Find Doctor Kerrian" now directs players to the correct location.
• Old Blood: The mission step "Enter Bekvalen Hall" now has an appropriate map note. Hollow Voice now uses the correct language.

Sith Inquisitor

• The Dark Council: The step "Defeat Darth Thanaton" now points the player to the correct location.

Smuggler

• Eco-Terrorists: This mission now correctly provides a Premium Skill Barrel 8 in addition to the reward choice.
• Heist of the Millennium: The Droid head now has the appropriate model, and it is now more obvious that players are removing a piece of it.
• Into the Fire: The conversation with Lokir-Ka no longer auto-triggers again if the player uses Esc to end the conversation.
• The Endless Abyss: This mission now correctly provides a Prototype Artful Mod 14 if you do not keep the blaster.

Imperial Agent

• Imperial Agents who are simultaneously on the "Travel to Nar Shaddaa" step of Kaliyo's mission "What You Do for a Partner" and the "Closing the Deal" class mission can now satisfy both mission steps by traveling to Nar Shaddaa.
• The Assassin's Prize: Players can no longer accidentally leave Denri Ayl's mission area.
• The Sky Burns: Players no longer see this mission progress until the beacons are fully planted.

Trooper

• Public Relations: Sergeant Jaxo can no longer die during one of the steps requiring the player to speak with her. Re-opening the door after closing it during the bomb sequence can no longer cause this mission to become blocked. Players can no longer infiltrate Port Raga until they have spoken to Jaxo.
• Welcome Party: Colonel Gaff's conversation no longer begins automatically when the player approaches.

Bounty Hunter

• Electrocution: Jicoln's electric floor now properly stuns players, and its debuff has an appropriate icon.
• Honor or Glory: The conversation with Toran is no longer forced if the player uses Esc to cancel the conversation.
• Meeting the Admiral: The last step of this mission no longer directs you back to Hangar Bay 59 if you helped the Admiral.
• The Alderaan Target: All companion affection changes during this mission are now properly applied at the end of the mission.

NPCs

• The Nightmare Pilgrim can now be respawned every 30 minutes (down from 2 hours).
• Intelligence Officer Breerdin no longer treats all alien characters as Chiss.
• Corsec Blaster Droids on Corellia are no longer invisible.
• Members of the Black Sun and Coruscant Security now engage in combat appropriately in several areas on Coruscant.
• Several common NPC Boss encounters have had their loot adjusted to be more in line with their rarity.
• Conquest Droids on Balmorra no longer attack other Imperial NPCs that enter their range.

PvP

General

• Level 50 daily Warzone missions (No Quarter and March Them Down) now only require 4 Warzone completions (down from 6). Winning a Warzone still counts as an extra completion.
• The Resolve system has been adjusted in the following ways:

• When a player becomes immune to control due to Resolve, his Resolve meter will not start decaying until after all the current controlling effects expire (instead of decaying immediately after the immunity begins).
• Players under the effects of a control ability now build less Resolve for other control abilities that target them. The exact amount of Resolve the player builds is based on the time remaining on the ability currently controlling the player and the relative strength of that ability's effect. If two stuns of similar strength (such as Electrocute and Debilitate) target a single player at the same time, the second ability would generate very little Resolve. However, if the two effects were applied so that the duration of their effects overlapped very little, each effect would grant its full (or nearly full) Resolve to the target.
• A new Codex entry can be found in the Game Rules section to help players who are unfamiliar with the details of the Resolve system.

• New Recruit MK-2 gear is now available. This gear replaces the Recruit set, which is no longer available.
• Unranked Warzones now backfill empty player slots more frequently.

Warzones

General

• Leaving a Warzone queue from the queue window now properly closes the "join Warzone" dialog.

Huttball

• Frogdogs now hear voiceover when they score their second point.
• The maximum time limit in Huttball has been reduced from 15 minutes to 13 minutes.

Novare Coast

• The fire rate for each of the turrets has been increased from 8 seconds to 9 seconds.
• Players are no longer required to press Spacebar to exit the loading screen before this Warzone.

Voidstar

• In the event that neither team breaches the first set of doors, the winner of the match is now the team that scored the most kills.

Space Combat

• Items that grant repeated upgrades of the same type are now correctly accounted for.
• Power Conversion Module abilities now appear in the correct quickslot during Space Combat Missions for Imperial Agents.

UI

General

• The title row in panels such as the Guild Roster and who list no longer occasionally disappear.
• The "inspect" window now closes when the inspected character is too far away.
• The "promote" and "demote" buttons are now more visible in the guild UI.
• Players can now set their moods, altering your character's facial expression. You can find these moods in the emote browser near the chat window.
• Activating multiple UI panels in very rapid succession no longer causes the game to become unresponsive.
• Players can now use shift+right click to equip an item directly on their active companion.

Chat

• PvP messages (such as becoming flagged) can now be toggled off in chat tabs.
• The description of the chat preference "Group Awareness Ping" now more accurately describes its effect. The tooltip now reads: "Plays an audible tone when your name is said in a Group chat channel. If you have heard an audible tone in the last 30 seconds, you won't hear one."

Maps

• The accuracy of the Promenade map on Nar Shaddaa has been improved.
• The map for the Dark Temple Approach on Dromund Kaas now better reflects the world.
• Several areas where the map would incorrectly transition to a new map have been corrected.

Miscellaneous Bug Fixes

• Jedi Consulars arriving on Balmorra are no longer facing their ship door upon entering the spaceport.
• The Dromund Kaas Nexus Cantina rest zone has been slightly adjusted.
• The Fernell Research Facility on Balmorra now displays the correct name.
• Trees and large moving objects now cast animated shadows in the game world. Shadows are smoother, and players will notice improved self-shadowing. Additionally, the shadow system has been optimized to increase performance. Players utilizing AMD Crossfire or Nvidia SLI options will see a boost in performance. To see these changes, the shader settings and shadow settings must be set to "high."
• Several minor art issues, like floating objects, seams in the terrain, and issues with disappearing geometry have been corrected.
• Many places in the world where players could get stuck have been fixed.
• Several typographical errors have been corrected.
• An issue that could cause display problems after changing a video card out has been addressed.
• Players performing certain emotes while riding the Jawa Balloon on Tatooine are no longer teleported back to the balloon's start position.

Changes to the Grass Quality slider in the options now apply immediately when the player presses "OK" or "Apply."

1.3.7 Patch Change to Legacy Names ... WTF???

1.3.7 Patch Notes:
Legacy
Legacy names are no longer unique. New Legacies that are created are now able to use a name that is already in use on the server. All players will be able to rename their Legacies once, at no cost, in a future update.

As a player that worked real hard to get the name I wanted, I find this to be a real shock. If anything the change needed to be the other way around, making first names no longer unique, and getting players to use Legacy names from the start. With the focus on Legacy, and players having to play lots of alts, it makes it hard to define yourself in SWTOR.

I play a lot of PvP over my active 4 toons. I'm in PvP every day and no one knows who I am. There is a chance that people notice my Legacy name, as I use it all the time on all my alts, but now with this change ... it's gone.

I recently attempted to join a guild with one of my alts. A player who I had been PvPing against me, with a variety of toons, had no idea who I was and told me I needed to make a "name" for myself in PvP before I would be able to join their guild! That's a fair statement, but I am not playing just one character. With the Legacy system and this change, how are players meant to make a "name" for themselves now? You either don't participate in the Legacy system, and spend no time on other characters, or you never make a name for yourself.

Another issue will be people using Legacy names of popular players, stealing an identity of a good PvP player, for example, or acting like an alt of someone to unload a guild bank. Legacy names up till now have been a unique way to identify your account on a server and I think with this change it will throw the value of Legacy names in the trash. I know I will be turning it off because I don't want some schmuck copying me or people thinking I'm someone I'm not. The Force forbid some tool uses the same name as me and ninjas loot or upsets another player ...

I feel this change is a bad move for SWTOR and makes the Legacy name just another dumb title. What do you think?

The Death of Hundreds of heroes... :(

This morning the dev team at City of Heroes announced that Paragon Studios will be taking to the skies of City of Heroes for the last time.

"In a realignment of company focus and publishing support, NCsoft has made the decision to close Paragon Studios. Effective immediately, all development on City of Heroes will cease and we will begin preparations to sunset the world's first, and best, Super Hero MMORPG before the end of the year. As part of this, all recurring subscription billing and Paragon Market purchasing will be discontinued effective immediately. We will have more information regarding a detailed timeline for the cessation of services and what you can expect in game in the coming weeks.

The team here at Paragon deserves special praise for all that we have accomplished over the last 5+ years. These developers are some of the most creative and talented people in the gaming industry. By now, we've all been given this news internally, but to anyone who may be reading this message after the fact; know that your hard work and dedication has not gone unappreciated or unnoticed. To any potential studios looking to grow your team; hire these people. You won't regret it.

To our Community,

Thank you. Thank you for your years of support. You've been with us every step of the way, sharing in our challenges, encouraging us to make City of Heroes better, more than everyone else thought it could be. We couldn't have come this far without you. I implore you all, focus on the good things of CoH and Paragon Studios. Don't dwell on the "how" or the "why", but rather join us in celebrating the legacy of an amazing partnership between the players and the development team.

Thank you, and I'll see you in the skies, one last time.

Andy Belford

Community Manager

Paragon Studios."